Is hi-lo milk really better for you?

Friday, 05 February 2016

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Low-fat or full-cream?

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Guidelines that recommend children over two years old eat
reduced-fat dairy have been called into question by new research from Edith
Cowan University, which found it was not associated with any additional health
advantages when compared to full-fat products.

Health bodies globally recommend reduced fat dairy products for
adults and children aged over two, but research recently published in the
journal Nutrients found that full-fat
dairy may be just as beneficial for cardiovascular health.

Dr Therese O’Sullivan from ECU’s School of Medical and
Health Science examined the eating habits of 860 WA teenagers from early to
late adolescence.

“We have long been recommending people eat low-fat dairy on
the assumption that because it has less calories and less saturated fat it is
healthier for you, but there was very little out there in terms of good
evidence that this is the case,” she said.

Dairy cholesterol
link

“When we examined the cholesterol profile
of these teenagers we found that those who ate more low-fat dairy were no
better off,” she said.

“In fact, we were able to show that for teenage boys, full-fat
dairy consumption was associated with a slightly better cholesterol profile
than low-fat dairy.

“Intakes of both low-fat and regular fat dairy products were
associated with better blood pressure in boys.”

Self-regulation

The researchers also examined the waist to height ratio of
the teenagers in the study to evaluate obesity and found no link between the
type of dairy eaten and obesity.

“Given that it has less calories per serve, it was assumed
that low-fat dairy would help children and teenagers maintain a healthy weight,
but we found that neither low fat nor regular fat products increased risk of
obesity” Dr O’Sullivan said.

“This could be because children and teenagers are actually
quite good at regulating their food intake, so eating full-fat dairy makes them
feel more full, potentially reducing their consumption of other foods, but this
is something that requires further research.”

Dr O’Sullivan is planning to run a dietary trial looking at
the health implications of low-fat versus full-fat dairy in children later this
year.